Thousands of domestic tourists have thronged the beaches, pubs and nightclubs of Goa to see in the New Year, even as the government imposed tougher restrictions to curb the latest variant of the coronavirus.
The suspension of international commercial flights due to the pandemic has boosted domestic tourism, with hotels and restaurants in popular destinations such as Goa enjoying roaring trade.
However, a spike in COVID-19 infections prompted the country to tighten restrictions on Thursday, including night curfews in all major cities.
In Goa, authorities issued directives to hotels, restaurants and casinos to admit only guests with valid vaccination certificates or proof of a negative test result.
The palm-fringed beach at Calangute in northern Goa was nonetheless abuzz with activity on Thursday as tourists zoomed around on jetskis and took selfies against the sunset.
"I really wanted to get some beach air ... you know, wind in my hair, sand in my feet - so for that, I thought Goa would be the best place to go," said Jaya Pandey, a young software engineer visiting Goa from Patna.
Cruise boats and restaurants in Goa were busy, with managers and owners saying they were finding it hard to keep up with the surge in customers.
"It is very busy ... we start at 11 (a.m.) and finish up at 11 (p.m), it's 12 hours. Very hectic all the time," said Simplis Gomes, who owns a popular restaurant near the beach.
India reported 13,154 new COVID-19 cases and 268 deaths in the last 24 hours, the union health ministry said, with urban centres reporting a big jump. It was the highest number of daily infections since October.
Cases of infection by the Omicron variant rose to 961 across India.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Goa Government Announces Launch Of Digital Initiatives Aiming To Improve Tourism "Running Airbnb Not Easy": Goa Homestay Owner After Guests Leave Property In A Mess ISL 2024-25: With A Late Comeback, Bengaluru FC Salvage Point In 2-2 Draw With FC Goa 11 Dead, Many Critical In Jaipur Fire As 2 Trucks Collide Outside Petrol Pump Atul Subhash's Mother Goes To Top Court For 4-Year-Old Grandson's Custody 52 kg Gold, Rs 10 Crore Cash Found In Abandoned Innova In Bhopal Jungle 3-Day State Mourning In Haryana Over Ex-CM Om Prakash Chautala's Death "Go Ahead": What Arun Jaitley Told Raghuram Rajan About Tackling Bad Loans "Is There A Plan To Cut More Trees In Aarey?": Top Court Asks Maharashtra Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.